Dangerous Souls by AJC

5

Natalie and I made it to Ireland, we went through one of the villages, I had to, of course, hide my face because the locals didn't take too kindly to demi-dragons let alone dragons themselves we made it to a boat that I paid for and headed for Achill Island " wow this is so beautiful" she said with amazement and wonder in her eyes I smiled " yes but this is just a pass-through" she looked at me eagerly " what do you mean?" I smiled " going to Achill is just a distraction so that I can transform " she looked at me with a raised eyebrow " what do you mean transform?" it was time for Nat to see me in my true form " well how else do you expect to get to fire god Isle ?" she smiled widely " you mean I get to see what you look like as a dragon?" I nodded feeling happy knowing that she was excited to see my true self " so how much longer?" We were only minutes away " not long now love" she smiled I could see the excitement in her eyes.

We finally made it to Achill Island and we climbed to the highest peak it was very narrow and I could tell she was nervous I chuckled " I don't think I've met a nervous vampire before" she playfully hit my arm " I can't fly like you can" I smiled widely at her " speaking in which" I said as I jumped off the cliff " Xander!!" She screamed as I transformed into a full dragon in midair and then hovered in front of her she was shaking her head " if you weren't so beautiful I would hit you right now, you scared the hell out of me" I put my oversized head over to her, blowing a smoke ring around her as she placed her hand on my face she ran her hand over the middle of my face, and it was then that I knew I loved this woman I lightly nugged her " you want me to climb on you?" I blew smoke rings out of my nose " jeez don't have to be so bossy" she said with a playful smile as she climbed onto my back I could feel her hug me tightly as we flew high above the clouds I could hear her laughter, I could tell she was enjoying it, I did a barrel roll as she held on to one of my spike on my back then, we made it to an island that I knew as home which was hidden by fog and protected by manticores.

We made it to the edge of the island I let Natalie slide off of me then I transformed back into my human form she looked me up and down and chuckled " now I see why you needed me to carry the knapsack with your shorts" I rolled my eyes " it's not like it's anything you haven't seen before" I said as I tried to grab the knapsack from her " nope " she said as she playfully pulled it away from me " come on woman I'm naked" I said as I grabbed her from behind still trying to get the knapsack from her she was laughing "fine fine" she said while laughing hysterically and letting go of the bag. " see I win" she rolled her eyes " only because you attacked me while naked" I started to laugh as I put on my shorts I put my hand under her chin and kissed her lightly " never bothered you before" she pushed me playfully " what are you implying?" I smiled at her but that smile stopped short when I saw a huge scorpion tail behind her I grabbed her and Immediately moved her out of the way knocking her to the ground " what was that?" she said with shock " Manticore" I helped her up and stood in front of her awaiting an attack " what is a manticore?" I didn't see any sign of him anywhere " a manticore is the guardian of this island, they are vast creatures that are lion-like with dragon wings, a scorpion tail, an almost human face, they are very dangerous they can also shoot fire."

She shook her head " nothing ever surprises me anymore" I looked at her and I could tell that even though she was trying to act like she wasn't but she was scared " look you need to stay here" she crossed her arms in front of her chest " like hell I will" I cocked my head to the side then rolled my eyes " fine but stay close, I wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to you" I grabbed her hand we made it to the gate and we didn't see any sign of them until one dropped in front of us growling at us I stood in front of Nat knowing I could take a fire blast " who are you?" The creature snarled " General Xander" the creature bowed it's head " go ahead but the bloodsucker stays" I shook my head " that bloodsucker is my mate and will be addressed as such" the manticore glared at me " there are no vampires allowed passed these gates, you know the rules" I glared back at him " and you are defying me, my father may have set these rules many years ago but I am here to speak to him" the manticore tried to fight it but it bowed against Its own will allowing us through.